


to be free

by wolfhxrdt



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/F, F/M, Kitty Section, Kwamis everywhere, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:34:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24149053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfhxrdt/pseuds/wolfhxrdt
Summary: As the guardian of the miraculous, Master Fu has watched over Paris for almost two centuries. After escaping the mountains that fell to the snow, the Guardian of the Miraculous has spent years hiding in the streets of Paris. Now that the holder of the lost butterfly miraculous has surfaced as Hawkmoth, Master Fu understands that it's time to reintroduce the world to the Lady of Luck and Cat of the Night.Aged up, college AU.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alix Kubdel/Lê Chiến Kim, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg
Kudos: 6





	to be free

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to my kickass betas: Sarah, Autumn, and Kacie! They're the reason this fic is possible, so I can't thank them enough. Tell us what you think in the comments :)

**prologue.**

*********

The weirdest day of her life was when she woke up to a knock on her door. Rolling out of her tiny bed, Marinette groggily fumbles around her room before making her way to the door. She’s met with the blinding light that bounces off the stark white of Violet Hall’s walls. Only when her confused gaze tilts downward does she find a little black and red box sitting outside the door of her dorm room that she shares with Rose. She notes that it has a few Chinese symbols etched on the sides, which only makes her wish that she had had the time to learn her mother's tongue. The wood was smooth with age, but the carvings of the octagon box had yet to fade or whither. With the thought of her embarrassing fumbling long forgotten, Marinette glances down the hallway and finds no one in sight. She wonders if Rose was expecting someone to bring the box to her as a prop for Kitty Section's next music video. It wouldn't be the first time she's forgotten to mention something like that. 

She sets the box down on the desk in Rose's room and glances at the clock sitting nearby, noting that the bright red numbers read 9:20. Normally when Rose goes and sleeps over at Juleka's she's not back until around noon, maybe even later if the band practices for an hour or so. 

Her eyes gaze back to the mysterious wooden box. Marinette has never quite found the fine line of being too nosy when it comes to curiosity. Logically, she knows that Rose probably wouldn't care that she took a quick peek at the jewellery inside. Just as she's extending her hand to pick up the box again, her mind reels her back in,  _ 'What if it's some sort of vibrating tongue ring?' _

With widened eyes, Marinette's hand instantly recoils and her fingers massage her temples rhythmically. "Ugh, I know what Alya would say right now," she groans. "'Girl, you need to stop worrying about Rose and worry more about her girlfriend's brother,'" Marinette imitates poorly, lowering her voice an octave and flailing her arms randomly about. "No, Alya, Luka and I are fine as friends. Besides, the box is old. There's no way something like comes packaged in a box like that."

Having said the final word to an imaginary Alya, Marinette turns to open the object of her curiosity, but her hand freezes inches away from the latch.  _ ‘Rose will be back in a couple hours; I should wait for her to open it. I can wait,’ _ Marinette convinces herself.  _ ‘Besides, I don’t want to see a vibrating tongue ring.’  _ Having made up her mind, she spins around on her heel and leaves to gather her things for a shower. 

Sundays are always quiet in Violette; typically because people are hungover, sleeping away the day only to wake up around five to mountains of homework that has yet to be completed. She sends a silent praise to the gods, thanking them for her excellent time management skills as she disrobes and ducks into the shower to wash away the sleep from the night before. The hot water feels nice as it runs over her body, the heat greatly appreciated as an escape from the cool air con that chills her down to her bones. 

She's got her hair tucked under a towel atop her head as she goes back to her room and swipes her ID card so she can get back in. As she puts away her shower caddy and scrubs at her hair in an attempt to dry it, her mind continues to dwell on the box sitting on Rose's desk. Marinette manages to get dressed before she finally gives into her curiosity and snatches the box off Rose's desk, taking it back to her room and shutting the door behind her. 

As a future fashion designer, Marinette is used to trying to find ideas and inspiration in every aspect of her life. Sometimes, she's inspired by her friends; sometimes, she's inspired by emotion. She's an artist in her own right, and as she sits on her fluffy grey rug in front of her bed, she's ready to study whatever piece has piqued her interest. Maybe it's a pair of earrings she bought Juleka, or something from Gabriel Agreste's new line of jewellery. She remembers that the new packaging somewhat resembles the little octagon-shaped box. Taking in a deep breath to quell her bursting excitement, she cautiously opens the beautiful wooden box and silently prays it doesn’t have to do with anything that vibrates. 

What she didn't expect was a floating, glowing ball of red energy to emerge from the package-- a little red and black-spotted creature that called itself a kwami-- _ her _ kwami, no less. 

"Oh, my god, it's a huge bug!" Marinette screeches, scrambling around her room as the kwami attempts to calm her down. The words, however, are proving quite ineffective. 

"I am not a bug," it huffs exasperatedly. 

But Marinette isn't listening to it, instead she’s running around frantically, all the while trying to calling Mylene who lives a few doors down from her and Rose--

Shit, voicemail. 

"Okay, okay, don't panic, Mari. It's just a big bug. That can…talk. And fly without wings. What the he--"

"Marinette! Please, please, calm down. It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you, like I have said ten times already," the kwami mumbles that last bit. 

Calming her racing heartbeat, Marinette slowly comes down from the shot of adrenaline and reels her common sense back in. "Okay, okay, well, if you're a kwami, then what’s a kwami?"

It seems to light up at the question as well as the fact that Marinette has calmed down significantly since opening the box. "I'm Tikki, and I can grant you the power of creation. As Coccinelle, of course!"

Wait, what?

"Lady…bug?" Comes Marinette's voice, laced with uncertainty. "I'm not sure what you mean, Tilli."

Kwami shoots her a glare. "My name is Tikki, and Coccinelle is the Lady of Luck, you know, the superhero?"

No, she doesn't. Why would she? Seriously, what the hell is going on? 

"Um, Tikki, I'm not a superhero. Are you sure you've got the right person? This Coccinella is probably someone else in my hall, not me. Uh, do you remember who they are?"

Tikki fixates Marinette with such a straight face that it makes Marinette scrunch her eyebrows together, concerned. "She lived about a century ago, Marinette," Tikki reveals dryly.

Marinette blinks twice, "What?" 

“For the last 3510 years, the Guardian of the Miraculous has chosen someone to wield the power of creation in order to protect the world from the terror that the butterfly miraculous poses. In past centuries, the butterfly miraculous has threatened the delicate balance of the universe by preying on the negative emotions of humans. However, the Guardian of the Miraculous always finds a Coccinelle to wear the earrings of the ladybug miraculous and defeat the keeper of the butterfly brooch. The Guardian has chosen you, Marinette. With the reappearance of the butterfly miraculous, the people of Paris need a light to look to.” 

It takes about an hour (probably longer), but Marinette comes to somewhat of an understanding with Tikki. She knows it'll take much longer than an hour to accept that the little kwami flying around her room is a deviant that can grant her abilities, only thought of in comics and science fiction. But the prospect of fighting the man that threatened the entirety of France just a week ago already has anxiety coursing through her body. After four days of vehement protesting, Marinette caves. That night she dons her suit of scarlet and black to begin her training. During these late nights, despite her hectic schedule, she can't help but feel that a missing part of her soul has been filled. The part that was unknown to her until that little kwami flew into her life and introduced Marinette to the side of herself she didn’t know dwelled within her.

*********


End file.
